Hot Property: Orchard Path in Apple Valley

Address: 157th St. W. and Cobblestone Lake Parkway, Apple Valley

Type: Senior housing

Units: 193

Developer: Presbyterian Homes & Services

Architect: Pope Architects

Details: Eight years after it was first envisioned for a senior housing campus, a 16-acre site on the western end of Cobblestone Lake in Apple Valley is finally seeing development.

Ground was broken last month on Orchard Path, a 193-unit "continuum of care" housing complex from Presbyterian Homes & Services, which is contracted with Essential Decisions Inc. to develop this project.

The first came in 2008 when Oxford Senior Funds won city approvals for a 214-unit project. The builder ran into difficulties in the recession and, after receiving several extensions, landowner Tradition Development last year dropped the effort. It instead proposed a 44-lot single-family home neighborhood at the site.

But the Metropolitan Council had agreed in 2011 to support senior housing on Cobblestone Lake with an $896,000 Livable Communities Demonstration Account grant. Presbyterian Homes then entered the picture this year, partnering with Tradition to revive that concept.

In addition to the 193-unit building, future phases may include 64 additional independent living units and an 80-bed skilled nursing facility.